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*Disclaimer: Please don’t post this chapter in novelupdates since I don’t want to mislead other translators.

Chapter 69: 1st Nightmare Talk – 1

——

“…Woah.” 

“Chua.” 

At the same time as I returned from the preliminary match map to the interaction map, my vision narrowed in one go. 

And then, I staggered a bit just like the time when the event began, and held my ground. 

“Congratulations, Taru-kun.” 

“Octohead-san.” 

Octohead-san spoke to me while I was regaining my posture. 

And so, I moved my body and head, and turned to him. 

Yeah, my wings are gone, I can’t levitate in the air anymore, and my hair has lengthened a bit, but the difference in what I can see with my eyes really is big. 

If I don’t move my body properly like this, I can’t see the other party after all.

“Did you watch my match?” 

“Yeah, I did. It was splendidly done and at the same time was awfully interesting.” 

“I see. I am glad to hear you enjoyed it.” 

The ones in the room are…only Octohead-san and Shirowhi.

That Shirowhi seemed to be looking awkward here.

By awfully interesting…well, he must be referring to the sorcery. I won’t tell him though.

“What was everyone’s result?” 

“Shirowhi-kun, Onga, Rocko-kun, and me dropped in the preliminaries. Onga and Rocko-kun have gone off to mingle. Shirowhi-kun and I were watching the games here. Zaria-kun and Blakuro-kun are still in the middle of their preliminary match.” 

I see. 

So I am the first one to advance in the tournament within this room at least. 

“How are the preliminaries shaping up as of present?” 

“From within 32 Blocks, 22 Blocks have ended. A grotesque monster showed up in the early stage as a surprise, so things are ending pretty fast.” 

“Aah, the jellyfish, huh…”

“Well, the fastest place had 10 people who were proactively searching for enemies and rampaging, so they ended up being the first to finish though. There was no surprise happening there.” 

“…Looks like we gotta watch out for them. Who’s the one that came out the winner from that block?” 

“There’s a compilation of tournament participants in the Bulletin Board, so check that out later.” 

“Thanks. I will do so.” 

If I were to fight 1v1 against a player that came up top with pure prowess when I pretty much climbed by using underhanded means, there’s no doubt they would be able to show even more power than in the preliminaries. 

Leaving aside whether I can make countermeasures, it would be best to learn about them.

“And so, Taru-kun, what will you be doing from here o—” 

“I am baaaaaaaack! Yahoooooooooo! I advanced!!” 

“Bro…” 

This is when Blakuro showed up wrapped up in light. 

Looks like he has won the preliminary match.

“I returned just now. Haah, that was unexpectedly rough. I somehow managed though.” 

“Oh, Zaria.” 

“Congratulations, Zaria-kun.” 

And then, Zaria appeared wrapped up in light in less than 10 seconds later. 

Looks like Zaria managed to win the preliminary match too.

“Uhm, Octohead-san, what’s the situation?” 

“Taru-kun, Zaria-kun, Blakuro-kun have advanced in the tournament. Congratulations.” 

They have returned to their states of before the preliminaries began with their possessions having returned. 

However, judging from their exhaustion, I would say Blakuro managed to win with a good amount of leeway, and Zaria had a pretty rough match. 

“Excuse me, Zaria-san, I am sorry for bothering you while you are tired, but there’s something I would like to talk to you about…” 

“What’s the matter, Shirowhi?” 

“Man, were you watching my grand display? I was tearing my enemies and throwing them away, tearing and throwing… Hm?” 

Shirowhi and Zaria began talking alone. 

Blakuro seemed like he wanted to brag about his own fight, but I don’t care. 

“Returning to the topic, Taru-kun, what will you be doing from now on?” 

“Right… It has been around 1 hour in real time since the tournament began. It will be a little while before the tournament brackets are shown, so I am thinking of logging out for now, loosening up my body. I will then check the Bulletin Board after that, and study their habits and make countermeasures.” 

“I see. Be careful with your time.”

“Of course.” 

I moved to the safety area and logged out. 

——

“Log in…” 

“Welcome back-de chu, Taru.” 

After using around 30 minutes in real time, I have finished my preparations to concentrate on what comes next. 

Stuff like going to the toilet, rehydrating, refueling, doing miscellaneous chores; I have finished them all, so I won’t need to log out until the event ends. 

“You have a message from the admins-de chu yo.” 

“…Zarichu, you can even do something like that, huh.” 

“Chu.” 

Leaving aside the unexpected feature of Zarichu, the details of the message are: The time for the tournament to begin and the brackets, huh.

They will be performed all at once, and it is scheduled in a way that you progress every match. 

As for the important 1st match…

“Egiaz 1?” 

A player by the name Egiaz 1.

From what I have investigated in the Bulletin Board, they are apparently a pro player, and they are playing in order to get used to the avatar of a monstrosity.

Their appearance is that of silver metallic material skin covering their whole body, and they are wearing leather armor on top of that. 

Their fighting style is a simple one with sword and shield. It may be simple, but the way they carry themselves makes them have very little openings. 

As for its features as a monstrosity, due to their whole body being metallic, they are strong to slashes and stabs. They also have a 3rd arm that could be called a hidden arm wrapped around their waist, and there have been witnesses of them using it to sweep their surroundings in the preliminaries.

“Hmm… From what I can see, my compatibility against them is not bad.” 

I am a long range fighter and specialize in status ailments that ignore defense. 

It depends on the terrain, but if it is just from the catalog specs, I should be the one with the overwhelming advantage. 

That said, thinking a person calling themselves a pro doesn’t have countermeasures against an opponent they are not suitable against would be looking down on them. 

“Hm? Aah, if I get to the 2nd match, there’s the possibility I end up fighting Zaria.” 

“Chuu.” 

Looks like if both me and Zaria were to win, it will end up in a battle between two acquaintances. 

Well, this is something I should think about after winning the 1st match.

“Let’s meet up with Zaria and the others for now.” 

I moved from the safety area back to the room. 

“……” 

“Zaria?” 

And then, what pierced me was the gaze of Zaria that was sharp like a needle and at the same time felt like it had something resembling resentment in it. 

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